TRANSCRIPT

Flour Sack Underwear
A poem by Laurie Carruthers, related to Hazel Beebe (nee Carruthers) New Annan, Nova Scotia, Canada

When I was a maiden fair
Mama made our underwear
With eleven tots and Pa's poor pay
How could she buy Lingerie?

Monograms and fancy stitches
Were not on our flour sack britches
Panty waists that stood the test
With "FIVE ROSES" on the chest

Little pants the best of all
With a scene I still recall -
Harvesters with gleaming wheat
Right across the little seat

Tougher than a grizzly bear
Was our flour sack underwear
Plain or fancy, three feet wide
Stronger than a hippo's hide

Through the years each Jill and Jack
Wore this sturdy garb of sack
Waste not, want not, we soon learned
A penny saved, a penny earned.

Curtains, bedspreads, cup towels too
Bureau scarves, tableclothes to name a few
Best of all beyond compare
Was our flour sack underwear.